An Uzumaki in Time
by thecheshirerose
Summary: Helexa never expected to be thrown in to a different time all together after going to bed, but here she is.
1. Hearing Voices

It was late, probably close to 2 AM when Helexa arrived home. Catatonically she slid her key in to the lock, every little click was an assault on her senses. Even the familiar squeak of the door opening to her loft sounded like a jack hammer going off in her head. This was the first time in nearly two days that she wasn't drinking. And she was paying for it. She was, however, still pretty sloshed.

She stumbled in to her loft, clumsily stepping out of her black high heels. The young woman pushed her front door shut and slid the bolt back home. Leaning heavily against the door, she took a few breaths. Preparing herself.

 _"You need water. You're dehydrated."_ She heard his voice chide her. Helexa let out a loud laugh. "I'm going crazy. I'm hearing voices." However, the drunken woman obliged to the inner voice, all the while thinking that it wasn't just anyone's voice. It was _his_ voice. It made it so much more worse.

After a few sloppy slurps of the water bottle she took from the fridge, Helexa stumbled off down the hall. Unknowingly, leaving a trail of water behind her as she still clutched on to the opened bottle. The big bay windows that lined her hallway gave a nice view of the hustle and bustle of the city down below. The once prized view now left a sour taste in her mouth. Twinkling lights that she once thought beautiful now made her sneer.

With a shaky hand she pushed open one of the windows and stepped out on to her small concrete terrace. It was cold beneath her bare feet but it was a welcomed feeling. She didn't feel much any these days. Reaching the stone ledge that served as her balcony she grabbed it with her one free hand. Leaning slowly over it she looked down at the distance to the ground below. Six stories was a long way down. _"Don't do it."_ That familiar voice hissed in her head. _"Go back inside. You need sleep."_

"FUCK YOU!" She yelled at the voice and chunked her water bottle off in to the night. A sob tried bubbling it's way up but she bit it back down. Instead, a sad laugh found its way out of her throat. Helexa obeyed that voice though and slowly made her way back in to her empty loft.

What she once called a home now seemed like a ring of hell to her. It held memories that ripped at her heart each time they flashed across her mind. Slowly making her way down the hallway that lead to her bedroom, she trailed her fingers along the wall, using it mostly to keep her balance. Her sad eyes took in the pictures that lined her wall. Each one was like a new wound to her heart. Finally, she stopped on the picture that she cared about most.

Captured in that perfect moment stood her and her fiancé. He was a tall man, dressed nicely in a handsome dark blue suit. His black and gray peppered hair stuck up every which way as it normally did. His smile lit up his whole face, crinkled his dark eyes, and even wrinkled his nose slightly. It was a rare sight to get a wide smile out of him like that. It was even more so rare that it was caught on film. In his arms he held Helexa tightly to his chest, her head was thrown back in one of her famous boisterous laughs. Her mass of wild, black curly hair was spilling over his arms and reached to her lower back. In her hand she clutched a white onesie. In the picture you couldn't see what it said but she knew. It read, "Hi, daddy."

Her hands reached to the picture, wanting to hold on to that perfect moment forever. Her body, however, didn't work with her properly and she accidentally knocked it off of the wall. The glass shattered from the impact. "Shit." She hissed and bent down to save the picture from any damage. Breathing a sigh of relief, she slid the picture out from beneath the shards of glass and clutched it to her chest.

Finding a new sense of sobriety, she picked her way amongst the shards of glass and continued her way on to her bedroom. Standing at the threshold of the bedroom she took a few moments to gather herself. Once mustering up the strength Maeve stepped in to her bedroom. Their _shared_ bedroom. It felt so empty even though it was still full of her and her fiancés things. With a sad, tired sigh, the young woman finally felt the weight of exhaustion on her shoulders.

Carefully placing the picture on her dresser, she took the moment to slide out of her black bodycon dress. Normally she would have draped it across the chaise to be taken to the dry cleaners later on but she was too tired to care. Kicking it off across the floor, she found her way to the walk in closet. Instead of traveling to her side of the closet, she chose his. Her fingers drifted across the fabrics of his suits and shirts and button ups. She finally stopped at a random button up shirt and carefully took it down. Bringing it to her face, she breathed in the scent of her lover. The sense of familiarity that it brought her was nearly crippling. Like a tidal wave, the pain and sadness came crashing down on her.

Through her sobs and her tears, she just barely managed to slip his shirt on, clumsily buttoning it up. With quick, fevered steps, she made her way back to the picture and snatched it from the dresser. Clutching it to her chest, she held it tightly as she fell on to his side of the bed. Curling up around his pillow, she sobbed uncontrollably for a long time. Helexa's body finally gave out and she fell in to a deep, black nothing that wasn't quite sleep.

 _Tink. Hissssss. Scritch._

 _"Wake up!"_

 _Creeeeak._

 _"WAKE UP! RUN!"_

Helexa's eyes slowly fluttered open as her ears registered that there was movement in her bedroom. Slowly, her eyes roved around the room and landed on the two figures creeping along the end of her bed. A blood, curdling scream escaped her throat as she threw herself from her bed. "GRAB HER!" A deep, gravely voice ground out. Helexa overshot how far she was laying on the bed and hit the floor hard. Ignoring the pain that shot through her limbs she scrambled across the floor and jumped for her door way. In a second though, one of the two figures now blocked her exit. Shocked by how quickly this intruder had appeared in front of her the frightened young woman fell in to him. Large hands painfully grabbed her shoulders. "Gotcha, bitch."

A small, stinging pain in her neck caused Helexa to slowly lose control of her body. She turned her head slightly to see the second intruder holding up an empty syringe with a nasty grin across his face. "We gotcha now, Kushina."

"Ku-" Helexa tried to form the words but her mouth failed her. Sliding her picture in to her bra so as not to lose it, her legs went out from underneath her. The larger of the scooped her up roughly and tossed Helexa's limp body over his shoulder. Once again, the black nothing swallowed her up.


	2. Drugged Haze

Helexa felt like she was floating. Her limbs felt like they were made of air but also weighed a thousand pounds at the same time. As if she was moving in slow motion she had to make an effort to bring her hand up to her face. Once her hand was close enough to fully focus she realized that there was a bunch of wires running from her hand and there were bracelets on her wrists.

Was she a robot now? No. That's silly. Robots don't exist. Oh, wait. She had a roomba. It was like a robot. Don't tell her roomba that robots don't exist. It would probably hurt its feelings. "Oh fuck. I'm high!" Helexa suddenly blurted out as she realized that she was not indeed a robot but instead hooked up to some medicine. Some good medicine. What was going on?!

"Well, it sounds like somebody finally decided to wake up." A familiar, rough voice echoed through the poorly lit room. Helexa tried to turn her head to get a good look at her kidnapper but he stood just out of her line of sight. Anger took over her and she felt her face grow hot. Biting the inside of her cheek to keep the angry tears at bay, Helexa tasted the familiar metallic twang of blood. She was an angry crier, she always had been. It was embarrassing to her but her father had always said there was nothing wrong with showing your emotions. It's what made us all human. Her mother on the other hand had always been a beautiful stone statue when it came to emotion. You would never knew what she was feeling unless she told you.

"What do you want? If it's money, I have it, but you need to let me go. I can't help you from here." Helexa tried to bargain with the man. She heard him scoff and his retreating footsteps. She let out a frustrated yell and tried to sit up. It was then that she realized that what she thought was bracelets earlier was actually restrains. Pulling at them as best she could, Helexa started to cry as her drugged, foggy brain began to pull her back in to the nothing.

Drifting in and out of conscience for a while, Helexa tried to keep track of time but it was nearly impossible since the room she was in had no windows. Finally, after opening her eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time, she was surprised to see three man standing around her. She awoke to the middle of their conversation.

"This is not Kushina Uzumaki. You fucked up my jutsu!" A man with black, long hair and piercing green eyes snapped at her two captors. The big man with the hoarse voice sneered at the green eyed man. "No, you fucked your jutsu up, I filled it in just like you told me to. It took me to this girl. I grabbed her and split!"

The large man slammed a small scroll down hard on to the table beside her. Helexa jumped at the loud bang it made. All three men looked down to her, almost as if they were just remembering she was there. The third man walked over to one of the bags of fluids and checked it. "I'm almost out of the paralytic. This is my last bag. Look. I don't know if she's a shinobi or not but if she is an Uzumaki, I don't want to chance what she can do without this medicine."

"It shouldn't matter anyways since she isn't Kushina. We should just kill her. She's no good to us." Green eyes said as he raked a hand through his hair. Helexa hoped it would fall out. It didn't. "I think we could keep her. We altered the jutsu for a pregnant Uzumaki woman. We got one. She may be valuable in the long run. Get me one more bag of paralytic and we will go from there."

"Fine. I'll get you one more bag but you get as much information from this bitch as possible before I get back." Green eyes snapped and turned and walked away. He exited through a door towards the back of the room. Helexa looked to the two men who were left. The biggest man was staring down at her, his arms crossed over his chest, and a dark look on his face.

Helexa cleared her throat and spoke, her voice sounded raw and hoarse. "Can I have some water please?" The large man turned and walked out of the room. The third man watched her for a while before going over to the sink and getting her some water. Helping her to a sitting position, he helped her still numb hands hold the glass up to her mouth. She drank greedily, it dribbled down her chin but she didn't mind. She was so thirsty. Once she finished her cup, she nodded her head in appreciation. There was a pregnant silence before Helexa decided to speak.

"Look, I don't know who you guys are, but I'm not Kushina. If you just take me home I will forget any of this happened. I have more pressing matters at hand." The man seemed to ignore her as he walked around the room. He dug through drawers and pulled two unknown vials and a syringe out. While he seemed to prep whatever he was doing, Helexa quickly took in her surroundings. She was in what almost looked like a hospital room but it was slightly dilapidated. Her eyes snapped back to him as he crossed the room to her.

He began the process of removing the iv, immediately pressing gauze to the site to stop the bleeding. Then he drew a shot back from on the vials. Cleaning her arm, the man administered the first shot. She didn't even feel it. He then administer a second shot. "What was that?"

"The first one will help you sleep for a while.The second is to help with the withdrawals you're gonna be feeling after I took you off the paralytic. You'll sleep just long enough for the medicine to wear off. Once it does if you go out that door, go down the hall, take the second left, you'll find the exit. Once you get outside, run like hell. Any direction. Once you come across any Shinobi, ask for sanctuary and ask to speak to the Hokage. Tell them what you know." The man said and looked at the forgotten scroll that still sat beside her. He picked it up and slid it in to Helexa's cleavage.

"Rude." She whispered as she felt the medicine taking over her. She heard the man chuckle and lay her back gently. He pushed her hair back from her face and watched her for a moment of two. He watched her eyes flutter shut and she fell in to a quiet sleep. If this was the last pretty face he ever saw, he'd die a happy man. He covered Helexa up with a discarded sheet before exiting the room.

 _Helexa walked hand in hand with her fiance, Kasch. She smiled lovingly up to the man. He looked down at her and chuckled. He pulled them to a stop and pulled her to him. Pressing a chaste kids against her kjps , he nipped at her bottom lip. Chuckling she wrapped her arms around his neck._

 _"What're you thinking?" He asking, knowing all too well of how her brain worked. She threw her head back and let out a loud laugh. He chuckled, loving that she was never afraid of to let out her famous, loud laugh._

 _"I was thinking that if we had a little boy we should name him Taemon. It means well behaved. If we have a little girl to name her RoseJoy after our mothers." She said, revealing what had been on her mind for a while. He chuckled and shook his head._

 _"You're just now 14 weeks and you're already thinking of names. You get to figure out the gender in 6 weeks. I bet you had those baby names figured out before we were even engaged." He teased, knowing all too well that his soon to be wife liked to plan ahead. He knew she liked being prepared for anything and everything. Snuggling in to her fiance's chest, Helexa shrugged her shoulders._

 _"There's nothing wrong with being prepared. Besides, if I wasn't prepared for everything how would you ever be on time? Right?" She_ _prodded at her fiancé and looked up to him. He gripped her tightly and pulled Helexa even closer. The look on his face worried her. His lips were pressed in a tight line and he seemed anxious._

 _"Kasch? What's wrong?" Her eyes followed his line of sight and saw a group of three men standing at the end of the alley. One turned to face the road, a look out. The other two walked quickly towards Kasch and Helexa._

 _"Baby, stay behind me."_

A loud bang caused Helexa to jump. She laid there for a few minutes, blinking her tired eyes as she tried to collect her thoughts. As if she was moving in slow motion, she sat up and moved her head side to side. Swinging her feet over the table the young woman attempted to stand up but her legs gave out once she put weight on them. Crashing to her knees, she sat there for a moment, cursing the man. He had told her that once she woke up that she would over the medicine but she could still feel it's affects.

Suddenly, her captors came barreling in to the room. The large man came flying past her, barreling for one of the doors on the opposite side of the room. Before he left the room fully, his dark eyes turned back towards Helexa. Once more, that dark look crossed his face. Looking towards his partner, he motioned towards Helexa on the floor.

"Kill her. We can't afford her to talk. Make it fast." The big man said and exited the room. The second man came walking back over to Helexa and crouched in front of her. For the first time since being in this situation she felt real fear grip her. Was this man really going to kill her?

"Naozumi."

"Huh?"

"My name is Naozumi." The man said, grabbed Helexa by the shoulders, and pressed a kiss to her lips. Once he released her, he wore a devilish grin on his face. She covered her mouth and frowned at the man. He let out a laugh and stood up. "If that's the last thing I'll do before I die, I'll die a happy man."

With that Naozumi turned and bolted from the room. She watched after him for a few moments before regaining her composure. Surveying her surroundings, she began working out some sort of plan to get out of here when three people came charging in the room.

One of the men that was a part of Naozumi's group held a sword in his hand and seemed to be fighting against the other two. The other two were clad in similar black and gray uniforms and wore what appeared to be porcelain masks. At least, she hoped that's what they were. Both of them had the same strange red swirl on their shoulders though.

It didn't take the two new intruders long to dispatch the thug. One of them ran their own sword straight through the man's chest. Blood splattered at Helexa's feet. She let out a scream, managing to stifle most of it with her hand, but the two had heard her all the same. The one without the sword quickly crossed the room to her and crouched in front of her. He reached a hand out towards her.

Afraid for her own life again, Helexa did the only thing she knew to do, she decked the person with a mean right hook. Thank God her dad was all about her learning ways to protect herself. It was enough to knock the masked man on his ass. "She fucking hit me!"

The second man came over, chuckling, and squatted down beside the other. "Miss, are you alright? We aren't going to hurt you. Can you tell us what you're doing here?"

Helexa blinked at the two men for a minute, chewing her bottom lip as she thought it over. Surely if they sent the big one and Naozumi running then they couldn't be all bad.

"I don't know what I'm doing here. They kidnapped me from my home and have kept me doped up ever since. I don't even know how long I've been here. They're looking for some other girl named Kushina." Helexa offered reluctantly. The two men shared a look, or she assumed they did. They were wearing masks after all. Two other men entered the room and joined them.

"Raven. Check the girl. Status report you two." One of the men said and nodded towards the man she had previously decked. So he was Raven. He moved towards her again, holding up his hands. "You gonna hit me again?"

She simply shook her head no and allowed him to do his thing. She wasn't happy about it though. After everything she had gone through she was tired of being touched. All she wanted was a hot shower, a stiff drink, and a warm bed. Something told her that she wouldn't be getting that for a long time. Once Raven was satisfied he stood up and turned towards their group.

"Heart rate is a little elevated and she's high as a fucking kite. They've got her really doped up. It should be wearing off pretty soon though. What they have her on crashes pretty quickly. She'll probably have withdrawals too. Hey girl, can you walk?" Raven said, turning towards her at the end. She shook her head no once again. Her legs still felt numb.

"Wolf." The leader of the four said. The largest of the group, the obvious muscle, walked over and easily scooped Helexa up. He held her bridal style and was surprisingly gentle with her. The now group of five made their way back out the door they had entered.

The group hurriedly made their way out of what was an underground base. Helexa was amazed by it and the fact that it was so expertly hidden. She was astounded at the fact that she was found at all. Her attention snapped back to when she realized that they were picking up more and more speed. Her heart nearly dropped out her ass when, in unison, the group all jumped up and in to the treetops. Like it was nothing!

She gasped as the quick movement took her breath away. Wolf laughed and whispered to her. "Hold on tight. We've got a long trip to make."

Helexa did as she was told and prayed that he didn't drop her as they went flying through the tree tops.


	3. Clan Leaders

Helexa felt adrenaline rushing through her body as she clutched tightly to the man who carried her through the treetops. The party of five moved lightning fast, literally jumping from tree limb to tree limb. The whole experience gave her anxiety but was also quite thrilling. She had never experienced anything quite like this and doubt she would ever again.

Realizing that the medicine that was pumping in to her earlier was finally wearing off, the young woman groaned gently. Her head was pounding, her eyes were burning, and her body was alternating being hot and cold. Was she having withdrawals from the medicine? Surely not. She had only been in that underground base thing for a day or two, right? She supposed that was all she needed.

"We have strict orders to take any evidence we have collected straight back to the Hokage. Raven did a field assessment of the girl. She should be fine to forgo a trip to the hospital. We need to collect all of the information that we can get while it is still fresh in her mind." One of the other masked men said as the group continued to what they called Konoha. A little annoyed that they kept talking as if she was not there, Helexa elected to just keep her mouth shut. Besides, she was afraid if she opened it that she would vomit everywhere.

The group slowed their mind numbing speed and jumped from the tree tops, landing on the ground with relative ease. The landing wasn't even jarring for Helexa. Which was a plus for her because her whole body ached. While still being carried they entered through large wooden gates that Helexa had to crane her neck backwards to get a good look at. Two men clad in blue and green walked over to them, one of them holding a clip board in his hand.

"You've returned. With company. The Hokage is in a meeting with the Clan Leaders. They've received your message." One of the men said around a long metal needle that hung from the corner of his mouth. Both of the men's dark eyes were on Helexa intently. "Yo. Is she okay? She looks a little pale. And green."

The masked man called Raven walked over to her and held out his hands to search her over again. Slapping his hands away, she sneered but said nothing. Raven 'hmphed' and shook his head. "Yeah, she's fine. Probably just tired from her ordeal. They had her hooked up on to some pretty extreme medicines. Looked like she was there for quite a few days. A week, I'd think. Probably just detoxing. Still got attitude though. She punched me when we first rescued her."

The two other men laughed and shook their heads. They both held up a hand in passing as the group left with Helexa. She craned her neck slightly to watch the men they were leaving behind. They were tall and dressed similar to one another. Both with dark hair and dark eyes. Once they were a good distance aways, the young woman turned back around. The group began to pick up speed and jumped to the roof tops. Once again the fast travel had her stomach lurching but she simply closed her eyes this time. Finding that it was easier to rest her head on the man's chest who was carrying her, she tried to keep her world still. They slowed once more and she heard the man carrying her, speak,

"Yo, girlie. You awake?" The vibrations from his husky voice could be heard deep in his chest. She nodded her head only slightly and finally opened her eyes as she came to realize that they were walking in to a large building. They reached their intended destination finally and the man lowered Helexa to the ground. She stood shakily on her own for a few moments before her legs gave out. Before hitting the ground, the man carrying her caught her in his arms. He steadied her on her feet but kept a solid arm wrapped around her, she leaned heavily in to him to keep upright. "Thank you." She whispered as the doors to the room swung open.

Once inside she saw that the room was filled with many people seated at a large wooden table. All eyes were on her and the group of masked men as they stood there. One of the me bowed in respect and spoke,

"Lord Hokage, we've returned from our mission. We dispatched all enemies but two who escaped through a back passage. We were in pursuit but we came across something more valuable. We rescued this girl from the compound and thought she could give us some insight."

The man stood and turned to look to Helexa. She felt her face go red and she suddenly realized that she was still only clad in the button up shirt of her fiancé's. It was ragged and dirty at this point. In fact, she felt ragged and dirty. Her eyes began to burn as tears slowly started to form, she was so embarrassed and exhausted.

"God. Can't you see she's exhausted! Get the woman a chair and something to cover herself proper with!" A busty blonde headed woman yelled as she stood up and pointed at one of the men. Finally, a man at the head of the table, the one they called Lord Hokage, stood up and calmly made his way towards her. He grabbed a chair and placed it before her. Before she could sit though, he removed the long cream and red colored jacket he was wearing and draped it across her shoulders. He stood nearly a head taller than her and she could only see one of his eyes due to a mask and a headband covering majority of his face. Even with his face covered she could make out the smile he offered her as he helped her in to her seat.

Dumbfounded, she watched the man take his seat back at the head of the table. Many of the others in the room talked about what an insult it was for an outsider to wear the Hokage's robes. Realizing just how important that notion was, she ducked her head to collect herself for a moment. Rubbing heavily at her eyes, she felt her contacts move.

"Well, shit." She said. A little too loudly. Because of her little outburst she now caught the attention of some of the Clan Leaders. Clearing her throat, she removed her colored contacts (strictly cosmetic) and revealed two bright blue eyes. She rested the contacts on her thigh and looked up once more. A young pink haired woman standing behind the busty blonde gasped slightly. "I'd like to answer any questions you may have." Helexa announced boldly.

"Thank you. What is your name?" Lord Hokage asked.

"Helexa." There was a few moment of silence before a Clan Leader snapped. "You got a last name?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. Helexa Uzumaki."

The room broke out in chaos. Words like spy and war and who might be behind it were thrown around the room. The men began arguing with one another and accusing fingers were pointed towards Helexa. Had she said something wrong? What was wrong with her name?

"QUIET!" The busty blonde yelled.

"Thank you, Tsunade." The Lord Hokage spoke. Once again, he turned his dark eye upon Helexa. "Your last name is Uzumaki? What village are you from?"

"Uhhh... New York City?"

"Where is that?" One of the Clan Leaders asked.

"New York..."

"Clearly she's lying! I say let the ANBU take her and interrogate her to get the information out!" A second Clan Leader yelled.

"I am not lying! My name is Helexa Uzumaki. I live in New York City, New York with my fiancé Kasch Hatake!"

Again the room erupted. She clamped her hands over her ears as the busty blonde, Tsunade, and the Lord Hokage tried to calm everyone down. The Hokage looked a little distressed at her words.

"Listen. You have to understand that these family names you are giving us are cause for concerns. There is only one other Uzumaki in this village and when it comes to Hatake... Well, I don't know a Kasch Hatake, and I should, since that is my clan name too. My name is Kakashi Hatake." The Lord Hokage, Kakashi, said slowly. She realized that he too was beginning to believe she was lying. A sudden fear began to grip her as she looked quickly around the room. She could read it in all of their faces.

"No, those are our names! And don't you tell me that you know every Hatake! That's not possible to know everyone of that last name. It's simply impossible! Look, I was coming home after my fiancé's funeral and I was sleeping and these men grabbed me out of my bed. They said they got me now, but they called me Kushina! And I don't know a Kushina! They said they wanted my baby and my demon. But my baby died after Kasch was killed due to stress and I should be at the hospital right now for a DC! And demons aren't real! This is all just insane! They talked about time travel or something and they had this little scroll. Look, I kept it!" Helexa quickly blurred out, her voice became so frantic that it grew louder as she continued. Her emotions took over again and big tears began to run down her face as she produced the tiny scroll from her bra. She held it out and one of the masked men, the ANBU, took it from her.

The room was quiet as the ANBU delivered it to Kakashi. He studied her for a moment or two before he diverted his attention to the scroll. Tsunade and one other man leaned in close to look at the scroll.

"I've never seen this jutsu before. Whoever wrote it though got their dates backwards. It looks like they were trying to travel back in time and then back to what would be the future. Except... They got the kanji backwards... They went to the future and then what would be the past. They only found her because they included a pregnant member of the Uzumaki Clan. This girl has to be an a descendant of Naruto's." Tsunade said slowly as she came to the realization.

"Whoever came up with this jutsu is not the one who grabbed her. There's two different styles of writing on this. There's more behind this." Kakashi concluded as he turned to look back at Helexa. Was this girl really a descendant of Naruto's? She had the same bright blue eyes as him and she even shared a few similar facial features with him. Upon closer scrutiny, he realized that she was now quite pale and Sakura was standing close to her, talking quietly to the young woman.

"Lady Tsunade, she's running a high fever and she's bleeding." Sakura called as Helexa suddenly slumped forward in her seat. Sakura caught the woman and held her up. "She said she had miscarried and was due to go to the hospital. Do you think that she is septic due to the baby not being properly removed?"

Tsunade leaned the girl's head back and checked her eyes. She pushed back the robes and pulled open the shirt and placed a green glowing hand over Helexa's chest. A picture fluttered out to the ground but was momentarily ignored. "You, take her to the hospital. Sakura, go ahead and prepare things for an emergency surgery. I think you're right. I think she's septic. Have things set up for a blood transfusion, just in case."

One of the ANBU scooped Helexa up in to his arms where she laid there limply, not moving. Sakura and the ANBU took off for the direction of the hospital with Helexa and Tsunade turned to where the picture had dropped. She picked it up and her eyebrows raised in shock. Without saying anything she walked the picture over to Kakashi.

"I don't think she's lying about anything, Kakashi. The man in the picture could be your brother." She said and handed the picture over. Kakashi took in the picture of a much healthier Helexa and a man who also shared many facial similarities to him. This must be her fiancé, Kasch Hatake. "I don't think she's lying either, Tsunade." He replied but she was already gone. Headed off to try and save the young woman.

With a heavy sigh, he tucked the picture in to one of the pockets on his chest, and sat down. "Clan Leaders, until Ms. Uzumaki is able to tell us anything further, if she even makes it out of surgery, we will adjourn for today." Kakashi said and stood up to exit the room. He ignored the protests of the Clan Leaders and headed off to find his favorite blonde headed knuckle head. He wanted to be the first to break the news before word got out.


	4. We’re Family

"How's she doing, Doc?" Kakashi asked as he saw Sakura come walking out of the surgery room. She looked tired but relieved. They had been in surgery for 10 hours. Pulling the mask down from her mouth, she smiled and flashed a thumbs up. Kakashi smiled and stood up from where he had been waiting. He walked over to where his former student was standing and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"She's stable, finally. After we removed the fetal tissue she began to hemorrhage. We had to give her a blood transfusion, plus she was septic on top of all of that. We even had to remove an ovary, unfortunately. Her likelyhood of having kids after this trauma is very low. But she'll make it. After a week or two of recovery she'll be back to normal as normal can be after this situation." Sakura said as she slid her surgical cap off her pink locks. Kakashi gave a reassuring "hm" as he nodded at her good work. "Where's Naruto? I thought he was with you? I heard him all the way in the surgery room."

Kakashi let out a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of his head. "He went to go find something to eat not too long ago."

When Kakashi had found Naruto at Ramen Ichiraku and told him about what had transpired today, Naruto practically raced out of the ramen hut. It was one of the only times Kakashi had seen Naruto not finish his ramen. The young man had been so excited that he ran straight to the hospital and had yelled for Sakura to try to figure out some information. It took Kakashi and a passing Shikamaru to finally calm him down. The thought of having a blood relative in Konoha was almost too much for Naruto. He didn't seem to understand, fully yet though, that Helexa was a descendant of his.

The duo found their way back to the benches that Kakashi had previously been inhabiting and took a seat. Sakura was tired from the surgery and the relief that sitting down brought was immense. She rested her head back on the wall behind her and let out a heavy sigh. "You seem pretty interested in the situation, Kakashi Sensei. How come?"

"I'm the Hokage. It's my job. Besides, I've never met someone who might be from the future." Kakashi said with a small chuckle. Sakura shared the chuckle and nodded her head.

"That's true. Neither have I. Lady Tsunade said that her fiancé... She said that he was your descendant too. Is that true?" The young medic nin said and looked to her Sensei.

He fished the picture out of his vest pocket and handed it to Sakura. She took the picture and studied it for a few moments. Sakura had seen Kakashi's face only once and that was to heal him. The man in the picture did look similar to her former Sensei. She quietly sat there, studying the picture for a few minutes, before speaking.

"She was pregnant with a little boy." Sakura said, her voice quiet as she spoke. "She looks so happy in this picture. I can't imagine losing the man I loved and my child within weeks of each other."

Kakashi realized the toll that it had on Sakura now but couldn't imagine the toll it would take on Helexa once she woke up. The somber moment was quickly forgotten as an all too familiar voice pierced the air. "SAKURAAAA!"

"Baka! This is a hospital. Be quiet!" Sakura hissed as Naruto came jovially bounding over to her. Strolling in tow behind him was Shikamaru and Choji. In his hands he held a small bouquet of flowers in a glass vase. Sakura recognized the floral design as being one of Ino's.

"Sorry, Sakura. How is she? Is she awake now? Can I go see her?" Naruto asked, obviously excited to see Helexa. Sakura smiled softly and shook her head no. Sudden fear crossed his face and he looked between Kakashi and Sakura. "She didn't die did she?!"

"No, of course not! What would that say about my medical expertise?" Sakura scolded and shook her head once more. Naruto's smile quickly returned and laughed.

"Sorry, Sakura. I'm just so excited! When will I be able to see her?"

"She's in recovery right now but we don't expect her to wake up for a day or so. She was very sick and will need time to recover. When you see her, be sure to remain calm." Sakura said, frowning at her friend.

"Naruto, you also must remember that she's... Completely out of her element here. She knows no one, nothing about this time. This could literally be a whole new world to her." Kakashi reminded. He studied his former student for a moment or two as he seemed to contemplate what Kakashi was saying. Naruto nodded his head in acquiescence but didn't say anything more. He still looked to Sakura, holding up his plant, and smiled ruefully. The pinkette let out a groan, rolled her eyes, and motion for the group to follow her.

They didn't have to go far before they reached Helexa's room. She held up a finger to her lips and gave each one of the boys a look. They all nodded in understanding. Sakura slid the door open and the group filed quietly in the room. Helexa was resting peacefully in the bed, still hooked up to more iv's. Her long black hair was piled high in a loose bun on top of her head to keep it out of the way during surgery. The machines around her beeped quietly as they constantly monitored her vitals.

Naruto stepped further in to the room and up to her bedside. He rested a hand on her hand, and studied her for a few moments. Retracting his hand, he walked over to her bedside table and rolled it close to her bed. He placed the flowers just so they would be in her sight when she woke up. He looked back to Sakura and nodded. The group quietly left the room.

"Sakura will you let me know when she wakes up please? I don't care what time of day it is." Naruto requested and Sakura nodded.

"Naruto, why do you care so much for her? You hardly know her. What if she doesn't even like you? I know you and only like you half the time." Shikamaru said, the one for always bluntness.

"We're family." Naruto said and shrugged his shoulder. Kakashi couldn't help but smile at his simple answer. The group headed off in their own separate ways for now.


	5. Waking Up

Kakashi came strolling in to the hospital a little late in the afternoon. With his hands jammed in his pockets he kept a leisurely pace. Obviously, he was taking his time. He had dumped all of his Hokage duties on Lady Tsunade for the afternoon to come check on Helexa. Every time he had come to check on her thus far she still had not woken up from her surgery. They were going on day three.

As he passed by the nurses station, he nodded his head, and ignored the hushed whispers from the nurses. His keen ears picked up their talk of him coming and visiting Helexa. It wasn't like it meant anything. Anytime he had popped in on her she was still sound asleep. He did find Naruto sleeping in one of the chairs inside her room though once.

As he neared the room he heard a commotion going on. Rounding the corner he saw Naruto standing outside her room, pacing back and forth, worry etched across his face. "What's going on, Naruto?"

"Kakashi sensei! The nurses were trying to draw blood on her but she freaked. They're trying to sedate her now and she's fighting them. They kicked me out and just left to get security. They said I wasn't allowed to help due to liability. She went crazy!" Naruto said quickly.

"Don't fucking touch me! Bring that needle any closer and I will stab you in the throat with it!!" Helexa roared from the other side of the door.

"Stay here, Naruto." Kakashi said and stepped in to the room. The scene he came in to was one for the books. Helexa was in a corner of the room, holding up a chair to fend off the nurses, while both of them held a needle in their hands. Everyone froze as Kakashi slid the door shut. "Yo."

Helexa was clad in a plain white slip that fell about mid thigh. It had probably been given to her in place of the hospital gown. Her long, curly black hair fell about her in a wild mane. It gave her a feral beauty about her. In fact, she looked a little feral by the look on her face. She looked from Kakashi to the nurses and back to Kakashi again. It was evident that she was worried that he was going to help them.

"Lord Hokage!" Both nurses said and bowed in respect.

"Ladies, why don't we give Ms. Uzumaki a moment here, hm? Let me talk to her." He said and slid the door open for them. He offered a smile that crinkled his eyes and motioned for them to leave. It was obvious that it wasn't up for debate. The nurses both mumbled their annoyances but exited the room. Shortly after, Naruto found his way back in.

Helexa still stood in the corner of the room but she sat her chair down. She eyed Kakashi wearily but she seemed a bit more relaxed with Naruto in the room. Naruto finally spoke. "Helexa, this is Kakashi sensei. He was my teacher and the Hokage of our village. He's okay."

"I remember him. He offered me his robes after they rescued me..." Helexa said and seemed to fall quiet. "Thank you for that. I think I ruined them though. I'm sorry about that."

"I have more. It's not a problem. Why don't you sit? You must be in pain after your whole ordeal." Kakashi said and nodded towards her bed as he stepped back. He noted that she was very pale and even seemed to be a little shaky. She nodded her head and crossed the room to sit back on her bed. A small sigh of relief escaped her lips as she sunk back in to the fluffed up pillows.

"Now, what was going on when I showed up?" Kakashi asked as he leaned back against the wall. Color returned back to Helexa's cheeks as she blushed slightly.

"I was upset. They came in, were very rude. I was talking to Naruto, I was fine, but they were hateful to both him and myself. One of them grabbed my arm roughly and when I told her to let off it, she said to either pipe down or she would sedate me." She grew quiet for a moment or two as she chewed her bottom lip. "It made me angry. Like really angry. After all I have been through I'll be damned if I'm ever doped up again like that. I won't even take the recommended pain pills that's supposed to be for after my surgery."

Kakashi listened intently to Helexa. When he looked to Naruto, he nodded his head in agreement. Kakashi understood completely as to why she was so reluctant about being handled that way. "Would it help if I got someone else to treat you? Perhaps, Sakura, if she isn't busy? You remember her, yes?"

"Yes. Yes, actually. She was nice to me. She's come to see me to take my vitals, right after I woke up. Just please, sir, don't let them sedate me. I don't want it." Helexa said, and Kakashi could hear the desperation in her voice. He slid the door back slightly and saw a different nurse standing there. "Go find me Sakura Haruno." And slid the door back closed.

The young woman let out an audible sigh of relief. Even her shoulders sagged at the thought of not having to be medicated. Naruto suddenly popped up from his seat and bounded over to her bed. He plopped down at the bottom of her bed and smiled widely. "Are you hungry? You must be hungry! I gotta take you to Ichiraku! They have the best ramen in the history of ever!"

A small smile graced the young woman's lips as Naruto told her all about the different flavors of ramen there were. All the way from his favorite to his least favorite, but it was still good according to Naruto. He talked for a few good minutes before there was a rap at the door and Sakura slipped in.

The trio bantered for a while, with Kakashi watching on, as Sakura drew her blood and checked her vitals. Sakura offered her anything for her pain management and Helexa shook her head no. Sakura bid her old friend, her Sensei, and what seemed liked her new friend adieu, and went back to her rounds. "Naruto, I need to talk to Ms. Uzumaki alone for a bit."

Naruto turned to look back at Kakashi from his spot on Helexa's bed and then back to her. She smiled at the younger boy, reached over and gripped his knee. She nodded her head and Naruto took his leave. It was obvious that the two had managed to form a small connection in the time she had been awake.

"Where do you want to start?" Helexa asked. Getting straight to the point as she busied herself with fixing her blankets. Sitting in the chair opposite her bed, Kakashi replied. "From whatever you remember first."

Helexa talked for well over an hour with pretty surprising detail about what had happened. Unfortunately, all of her memory was in bits and pieces, but what she did remember she remembered quite well. She explained the two men who had kidnapped her, the green eyed man, and even what things she heard when she was in and out of sleep. After she finished, they sat in silence for a while.

"Will I ever get home?" Helexa finally asked, her bright blue eyes looking out the windows beside her bed. "I'm not sure. There is much more research we have to do about the scroll. There are too many unknown factors on how to properly execute it. I do have trained nin working on it now though, trying to figure out what needs to be done."

"I'm sure it doesn't matter. I have nothing left to go back to anyways. They said I could be discharged tonight or even tomorrow at the latest if my pain level was manageable. I have no where to go though. I have no money. What will I do?" Helexa said as she turned to look at Kakashi.

He nodded his head as she made a good point. It wasn't like they offered free housing or anything like that in a situation like this. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it. Besides, you're a refugee of war, technically. When you are released I will send someone over with fresh clothing and to escort you to your temporary quarters. You will have a protection detail with you from here on out. You have valuable information that needs to be protected. You know more than what you think you do. We have ways of accessing it, if you will allow us."

Helexa remained quiet for a few seconds as she thought over what he was saying and nodded her head. "I'll help you anyway I can. Within reason. Thank you, Lord Hokage."

"Please. Just Kakashi. Gets some rest. We can talk more later. I'll send Naruto back in if you would like." Kakashi said as he went to stand up.

"Please. He's kind of grown on me." Helexa said with a small smile as she looked to the vase of flowers on her bedside. It was a fresh bouquet and Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle. He slid the door open and motioned for Naruto to go back in before taking his leave. He jammed his hands back in to his pockets and went off to set up residency for Helexa.


	6. Missing Persons

((A/N: So I've been writing the characters a little out of character, I realized. I've still been seeing them as their younger selves and not as the young adults they actually are during the timeline this story is set in. If you've noticed this, I'll do my best to alter it in the following chapters. Thank you so much for your patience. Please, don't be afraid to leave me a little constructive criticism!!

Also, some characters may slightly be out of character over all. It's not on purpose, it's mostly do to how I feel the characters would react in the given situation.))

Helexa walked along with Naruto and Sakura towards the Hokage Tower. Her hospital stay had been prolonged due to another infection that presented itself suddenly. It was wonderful to finally be able to get fresh air from more than just that damned window. She had been here about two weeks now, not including her time in the underground base, and these people were growing on her.

In her time Naruto had taught her so much about their lives, of where she came from. She couldn't even put a finger on how far in the past she had traveled, or if this was even the past considering their technological advances, but it was amazing nonetheless. She smiled as Naruto and Sakura bantered back and forth.

Her eyes focused on her black sandals as they moved along through the streets. Sakura had brought her a beautiful plum colored qipao dress with smoky gray trimmings. It ended just above her knee. It was a little tighter in the bosom but was still quite comfortable. Her freshly washed black hair flowed like smoke around her, the curls bobbing and twisting as she moved.

Her blue eyes snapped to as she realized Naruto had been talking to her. "Huh?"

"Geez, Helexa. You weren't even listening. I was asking if you wanted to come over for dinner tonight? Hinata said she would make something to eat." Naruto said, a little exasperated that she had zoned out yet again on him.

"Didn't you say she wasn't feeling to well this morning? Perhaps she's caught a bug." Sakura said, tapping her finger on her chin as she thought back to their conversation earlier that morning.

"I remember someone talking at the hospital about some type of stomach bug. Do you think that she could have caught that from visiting me?" Helexa said as she looked to Naruto than Sakura. "Mmm. It's quite possible. Naruto, maybe you should take her back to the hospital while I walk Helexa to the Hokage Tower."

"No, Sakura, go ahead. Why don't you go with him. If she does have the stomach bug she may not want to move around. Why don't you go on with him? I'm sure I can find the building in front of the mountain with Kakashi's face on it." The eldest of the trio said with a chuckle. Naruto clapped Helexa on the back and said. "We'll be sure to come see you once you've settled."

After watching them take off in the direction of Naruto and Hinata's home, Helexa kept walking in the general direction they had been heading. This time, now that she was alone, she took a much leisurely pace to take in her new local scenery. She stopped at shops along the way, viewed what they had to offer, and went along her way. It wasn't before too long when she heard the sound of children laughing. It was almost like a siren's song to her, calling to her.

Rounding the corner she found a nice, tidy building with young children playing out front. There were some women minding after the children, they were clad in pink dresses with their hair neatly pinned. What they worse was similar to what some of the nurses in the hospital wore but she could tell that the material was different. Was this a daycare? Surely it wasn't a school, some of these children were far too young to be in school. Although, she didn't know much about this time so it was quite hard to say.

"Excuse me, miss? Can I help you?" A voice brought Helexa out of her reverie and she jumped. Turning to look to the owner of the voice she saw an elderly woman, clad in the same pink uniform, with a smile on her face. "Oh... Uhm. I'm sorry. I was just watching the children. God, no. Wait. That's creepy. I'm sorry. I was just passing by!"

Helexa turned to hurry off, her face hot with embarrassment. The little old woman called out to her. The sound of her voice made the younger freeze. She turned to face the elder woman and was surprised to see her still smiling. However, this smile was different. It was sad but all knowing.

"I know that look all too well, miss."

"What look?"

"The look of a grieving mother. Would you like to come inside?"

Helexa stood there for a moment or two, chewing on the inside of her lip. There was a pregnant silence as she looked to the children playing around the yard. Their little faces were lit up and they seemed so happy. One little boy stopped what he was doing and made eye contact with Helexa. His little cheeks were red with laughter and he flashed her a wide grin. He waved enthusiastically to her before he took off running again.

"I would love to." Helexa said and took the hand of the little old lady that was stretched out to her. She wrapped it around her arm and was comforted by the warmth of the elderly lady's touch. It reminded her much of her late grandmother.

"We are a Shinobi village. In this village, we lose loved ones all alike. The hardest though is when a mother loses a child or when a child loses a mother. This is, for a lack of a better word, an orphanage. In this facility we focus primarily on the youngest children. We house infants to four years of age. From there they are transitioned to a different housing unit where they may start the path to choose a civilian's life or a Shinobi's. What did you say your name was dear?"

"Helexa, ma'am. Helexa Uzumaki."

"Uzumaki. I've heard of you. Come dear. I know where we should visit first." The little old woman said with a smile and a squeeze of her hand. She led Helexa in to the building as if she belonged there.

Kakashi sat at his desk, peering over a particular document that he had been staring at for over an hour. With a small groan, he pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back in his chair. He turned to look at the clock and realized that it was far past the time of when Helexa should have arrived. He had asked Naruto and Sakura to let him know once Helexa had been settled in to her living quarters but he hadn't heard anything from either one. Deciding to go investigate, he stood up from his chair and wandered out of his office. It didn't take long before he ran across a familiar face.

"Ah. Kiba. Have you seen either Sakura or Naruto? They were supposed to be bringing someone over from the hospital but I haven't heard anything."

"No, Lord Hokage. Want me to go find them for ya?" Kiba said as he grinned at Kakashi. He patted Akamaru's side. Knowing full well that they would be the best equipped for the job.

"Yes. I do, actually. Come send word back once you locate them."

"Hai, Lord Hokage!" Without another word both Kiba and Akamaru took off to go looking for the three MIA persons.


	7. Settling In

"This is the last place where I picked up Naruto, Sakura, and the third person's scent together. Seems like Naruto and Sakura traveled west and that third person continued to the north. Is the third scent the one that everyone's been talking about? Is it Naruto's family or whatever?" Kiba said as he turned to look back at Kakashi.

Kakashi said nothing as he nodded for Kiba to continue with Helexa's scent. Kiba turned and followed the scent trail, it was easy enough to follow. She hadn't gone anywhere too far off the main road to the Hokage Tower.

"This is where the trail ends. She's in that building there, Lord Hokage." Kiba said and nodded towards the orphanage.

"Thank you, Kiba. That's all for now." Kakashi said and offered a masked smile to the young man before parting ways. He strolled towards the building, looking around, but seeing no sign of Helexa. Once reaching the door, he knocked once then twice, and jammed his hands in his pockets to wait.

"Lord Hokage! Please, please come in! Lady Cho! The Lord Hokage is here!" A flustered young woman blurted out, bowing lowly to Kakashi. She turned and hurried off to find the matron. It didn't take long before Lady Cho came shambling around the corner, a warm smile on her face.

"Lord Hokage! My, what a pleasant surprise. To what do we owe the pleasure?" Lady Cho asked and clasped Kakashi's hand. She gave it a gentle squeeze and lead him farther in to the home. "Lady Cho, I was wondering if you might have a visitor here? A Miss Uzumaki?"

"Ahhh. Why yes I do. My, she is a peach. The children absolutely adore her. She's feeding babies right now. Come, come!" Lady Cho said and led Kakashi to a different room. The matron slid back a door only slightly so that Kakashi could have a peek inside. In a rocking chair sat Helexa with a small baby nestled in one arm and a slightly older baby standing up between her legs. Her little head resting on Helexa's thigh. With her free hand, Helexa patted the little girls back for a few moments before the baby sunk back to the ground and crawled off. The young woman practically glowed with happiness.

"She's been in here the longest. The baby she's holding now is very small but he's been fairly inconsolable since he's arrived. He's only a few weeks old and is actually from a neighboring ally town. His parents died in a mission and they didn't have the means to care for him. Lady Tsunade signed the papers on this one." Lady Cho said with a chuckle and patted Kakashi's arm. Kakashi chuckled at the matron's words. Realizing that she was making a subtle, playful, jab at his lack of paperwork inclination. He nodded his head in understanding though.

"Ms. Uzumaki, The Lord Hokage has come to collect you." Lady Cho called gently. Helexa looked up, startled, and made eye contact with Kakashi. She blushed deeply as she realized that she had lost track of time. Standing up, carefully, she walked over to the baby's bed and stood beside it. She whispered a few unheard things to the baby, gave it a gentle hug, and nestled him back in to his bed. Helexa then stopped by the slightly older baby girl and smoothed her hair back with a gentle smile.

"Bye, babies." Helexa whispered as she slid out of the room.

"Lady Cho, thank you for letting me spend time here with you all today." Helexa said and clasped hands with the elder woman. "If you plan on staying around for a while we would love to have you back."

"I'm not sure how long my visit will be but I will try my hardest to come back. Thank you again." Helexa bowed in respect to the elder woman and followed Kakashi out of the building after collecting her things.

"I'm so sorry that I got side tracked!" Helexa blurted out once they made it outside. Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle again before responding,

"It's not a problem. Lady Cho said you were greatly appreciated there. Come, let's head back to the Tower before it gets much later. If you're serious about it you can go back and visit again. After we do some screening that is."

"Yes, of course! I would love to go back. It was nice to just hold a baby after... After what happened, ya know?"

"Hm." Kakashi mumbled, nodding his head slightly. He understood her feelings but didn't know how to respond fully. She accepted the simple reply though and they left it at that as they walked along.

"Kakashi, tell me a little about yourself." Helexa said suddenly, catching him off guard. He turned to regard her and he found her studying him intently. Clearing his throat to try and gain composure, he thought for a moment or two.

"Oh. Well, there's not much to know. You know all the important things."

"All I know is your name, you're the Hokage, and you were Naruto and Sakura's Sensei."

"Yeah. The important things."

Helexa laughed and shook her head. Kakashi watched her from the corner of his eyes as they walked slowly. Their pace was leisurely and was somewhat nice. There was an air about her that tended to draw Kakashi. Was it due to the fact that she was going to be married to his descendant?

"No, there's more important things about to be known. Like your age. Your favorite food. Your favorite book. Were you ever married? Things like that." Helexa prodded.

"Huh. Well. I'm older than you. I don't like fried or sweet foods. I like to read just stuff... Never married." Kakashi said, tapping his finger to his chin as he mulled his answers over.

"Those were terrible answers. You're purposefully avoiding my questions. How old do you even think I am?" Helexa asked and chuckled.

"Mm. I don't know. Naruto's age? So, 18? 19?"

"I'm 26." Helexa said and laughed.

"Bull shit." Kakashi said, stopping dead in his tracks and turning to look at Helexa.

"Nope. Not bull shit. Real shit. Totally am." She said and grinned. Kakashi felt a smile tug at the corner of his mouth as she spoke. She had the strangest way with words sometimes.

"Well you don't look a day over 10." Kakashi said.

"With this chest? You're full of shit and you know it. And that doesn't mean look, sly eyes." Helexa retorted as they continued on their way. This time, Kakashi fully laughed.

"You're right. Not that I was looking." He recovered, realizing he had almost ousted himself.

"Why do you wear that head piece over your eye sometimes? And the mask too?"

"The head piece is mostly out of habit. I once had a different eye, but that's a different story. The mask is something I've always worn. Without it, everyone would fall in love with me."

It was Helexa's turn to laugh. She threw her head back and let out a loud laugh. Her mess of curls fell to her lower back, grazing just the top of her bottom. Kakashi didn't know why but he was drawn to the wild mane she had. It wasn't very often that he saw hair like hers. The way it flowed around her, almost like black smoke. Once she was over the laugh, she shook her head in disbelief with a wide grin. "Kind of full of yourself, huh?"

"Maybe a bit." He responded as he smiled to the younger woman. Kakashi suddenly realized how close they had become in their back and forth banter. Their shoulders nearly brushed one another as they walked. He also realized just how quickly they had made it back to the Hokage Tower. "Come. I'll take you to your quarters."

Helexa had enjoyed their small talk and was almost sad to find that they were already to the tower. A part of her heart twinged though as guilt start to set in. She felt as if she was betraying on her late fiancé. That she was trying to move on. Biting the inside of her cheek to quell the feelings that were trying to bubble up, Helexa followed quietly after Kakashi. They entered the part of the tower that was reserved for the Hokage's personal suites; as well as, political entourages when they came to visit.

Kakashi took her to a suite that had been set up just for her. He pushed open the room to reveal a fairly good sized sitting area with a kitchen attached. Directly adjacent to that was the bedroom of the suite that spotted a king sized bed, a grand walk in closet, and a full bathroom adjacent to that. Helexa walked slowly in to the room, taking it all in as Kakashi showed her around the place.

"My. This is quite grand. You know, I would have been fine with a cot on the floor at like Sakura's house." Helexa said, feeling very out of place in this grand room.

"Well, we don't know how long you'll be staying here so we thought somewhere a bit more comfortable would make the stay a little easier." Kakashi offered.

"Thank you. I appreciate this very much." Helexa quickly blurted our, not meaning to sound ungrateful.

"No problem. I'll leave you to it. My suite is just down the hallway there. If you need me, let me know. I'll have someone come by with some food later. Tomorrow, if you would like, I can have someone go pick up groceries for you. There are clothes, towels, and everything of the sort in the closets there that should work for now. It's late so I'm gonna take my leave now. Good night, Ms. Uzumaki." Kakashi said and nodded his head.

"Kakashi?" The young woman stopped him. "Please. Just Helexa."

"Hm." Kakashi nodded his head once more and closed the doors to her suite and retired to his own suite.

Helexa stood there, feeling alone, for a long time. She dropped her bag on to one of the chairs in the sitting room before wandering in to her bedroom. Slipping out of her dress, she let it fall to the floor at her feet. Next she slipped out of her undergarments and pulled the sheets back of her bed. Sliding beneath the sheets and pulling the blankets up above her heads, Helexa laid there for a little while.

She wrenched her eyes shut as she felt sudden emotions well up within her again. Traitorous tears slowly made their way out from beneath her closed eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Sobs began to bubble up within her and make their way out. Rolling up in to a little ball, Helexa pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face in them. She cried quietly to herself for a long time before exhaustion took her over. She fell in to a restless sleep for the night.


	8. Accidental Encounters

Helexa popped up from her bed, confused with sleep, as she heard someone knocking at the door. She looked around her, taking in her surroundings as she recollected where she was.

"Uhm. Uh. Who is it?!" She called, scrambling from the bed to find something quick to put on. The thought of just hiding beneath her sheets didn't occur to her in her sleep hazy mind.

"Kakashi. I've just come to drop off some things for you. I'll leave them here at the door. I've got a meeting to attend to so I'll be off. I'll send someone to collect you after the meeting. The Clan Leaders want us to start on trying to recall more memories." Kakashi said as he listened to her scrambling around the room. He placed the bag on the floor in front of her doors and turned to walk away.

He made it almost out of her living quarters when he heard the bedroom door fly open. Turning around, he found Helexa standing in the door way, looking surprised at the accidental force she had put in opening the door. Her hair was mussed from sleep, it fell crazily in her face and she swatted at it as if to keep it at bay. She had pulled a bathing robe around her, the sash tied loosely. The robe was a little short for her, giving Kakashi ample view of long tanned legs. It was obvious that she was athletic due to the muscle structure. It also fell off her left shoulder slightly, the peek of skin gave Kakashi a small thrill. He cleared his throat nervously as he stood there.

"Sorry. I was sleeping so hard I didn't realize what time it was. What will I do today? I'm not confined to a hospital bed anymore so I'd really like to get out. Am I allowed?" Helexa asked as she padded across the room towards Kakashi. As she talked, she batted at her hair again, trying to tame the wild mane of curls. With her hands above her head in the mess that was her hair, the robe slid only slightly higher on her, stopping mid thigh.

"If you're wanting to learn more about the town I can send you an escort." Kakashi said curtly, making sure to keep his eyes on Helexa's face. Internally, he groaned as he watched the woman walk towards him. A sudden urge tugged at him, the urge to pull that sash around her waist free. He could do it and not get caught, he knew it. He moved faster than her eyes were trained to see.

She had made it almost to him when she tripped. Her sandals were not placed in front of her door as was the norm here but they were just haphazardly thrown on the floor. Kakashi, with his aforementioned speed, caught her. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, her chest pressed against his, his arms wrapped around her securely, but it was the placement of Kakashi's hands that was the worst. One hand was resting along her lower back, it was in the safe zone. His other hand, however, was firmly gripping her pert behind.

The two stood there for a moment, shocked. Kakashi looked intently at the woman he held in his arms. He noticed the dark circles under her bright, brilliant blue eyes. The perfect 'o' shape her pink, pouty lips made out of shock. For the first time in his life, he cursed his mask. If it weren't for the mask he would have quiet possibly kissed Helexa in this moment. Shocked by his own forward thoughts, Kakashi removed his hand quickly from her behind. They both quickly stood up, turning from one another slightly out of embarrassment.

"I am _so_ sorry." Kakashi said, coughing in to the offending hand.

"No. No. Thank you. You were only trying to help. I appreciate it, really. An escort would be nice. I'm going to go get dressed now." Helexa hurriedly said and gave Kakashi a small smile before she turned to walk back to her room. Kakashi couldn't help but watch as she walked away, thinking that maybe he hadn't accidentally grabbed her behind. Surely a ninja of his prestige ranking, a Hokage, had better reflexes. It must be due to his old age, Kakashi chided himself and left the room.

Once Helexa was in the safety that was her room, she clapped her hands to her mouth to muffle her nervous laughter. She cried when she was mad and laughed when she was nervous. Damn these emotions. And Gods above was she embarrassed.

She quickly dressed in a simple navy blue kimono with a cream white obi and attempted to do something with her hair. Once she was fully frustrated- and almost fully forgotten her previous encounter with Kakashi- Helexa elected to just pin her hair up. Twisting it over and over until it was easier to pin back, she pulled a few tendrils of hair out around her face to frame it. It gave her an almost romantic look. Deciding that it was enough, she turned to leave her rooms when another knock sounded at her door

Nearly jumping out of her skin, Helexa quickly rushed over to answer it. She had been hoping to find Kakashi but instead stood one of the two ninjas she had met on her first day in Konoha.

"Hey there. The Hokage sent us to escort you around town. I don't know if you remember us. I'm Genma and this is Izumo. We're your guides for the day." Genma said, offering half a smile as he talked around his senbon.

"Oh. Yes. Thank you. Let me just get my shoes on." Helexa said and went to retrieve her shoes from the floor.

"You know, someone might trip on them if you just leave them there." Izumo piped up as he nodded to her shoes.

"Tell me about it." Helexa said as her head dropped slightly, her face growing hot with embarrassment as she thought back to her accidental encounter with Kakashi only a short time ago.

Izumo and Genma shared a look and both shrugged, not understanding her sudden change in demeanor.


	9. Drunk Again

Kakashi felt odd all day as he mulled over paperwork. Like he needed to be somewhere else, doing something else. He felt restless, like there was something better to do. Letting out a heavy sigh, Kakashi leaned back in his seat and dragged a hand through his silver locks. He turned to look at the clock and felt a wave of relief wash over him as he realized that he could leave the Tower now and not be tracked down by an assistant looking for a signature.

However, the paper work at hand was a pressing matter so he committed himself to finishing it up before leaving. Unfortunately, for him, that paperwork took longer than he had wanted and the sun was beginning to set. Now finished, Kakashi sat in his chair still, thinking. He wanted to go to his suites, to see if Helexa was in her own suite, but he knew that was a bad idea after this morning. Rubbing his face, he tried to push the thoughts of her from his mind.

He didn't know what her sudden hold over him was, but he wasn't much of a fan... Or he kind of was. He couldn't really tell at this point in time. It was new for him, the infatuation. It was almost like a teenage crush to Kakashi. Deciding that he needed a drink, the copy nin stood up from his seat and wandered his way out of the Hokage Tower. He mosied his way over to a popular bar that many of Konoha's ninjas frequented. With his hand jammed deep in his pockets, he elected to take the back roads. He didn't feel much up to hearing the long processions of "Lord Hokage" along the way.

Once he was close enough to the bar, he ducked out of the alleyways that lead to it. He stopped dead in his tracks, however, when he heard a familiar laugh coming from the bar. Helexa. As he drew closer he heard her voice wafting from the establishment. There was quite a ruckus going on inside. Every time she spoke there was a round of loud laughter following it. Ducking inside, he saw Helexa sitting at a table with a few others, including Izumo and Genma. There was several empty bottles of sake that sat on the table. She had the group going with laughter as she told them a story.

"So this man tries fighting my dad! The height difference has to be at least 2 feet! This little man squares up to my dad and yells "fight me bro!" My dad picks him up and shakes him like a rag doll. Drops the man and just walks away. That little man stood up and just walked off. Didn't say another word!" Helexa said, laughing as tears rolled down her face. The group busted out in laughter again as Helexa took a quick swing of sake.

Helexa looked up from her drink and immediately spotted Kakashi standing in the doorway. Her eyes lit up and she smiled widely. She popped up from her seat and rushed to him.

"Kakashi! Come, come! Sit with us!" She said, grabbing his hand and pulling him back to the table. Her cheeks were red with drunken merriment. Kakashi didn't even have time to protest before she was shoving him down in her chair.

"Well, shit, now I don't have a chair!" She said and laughed as she looked at the group.

"Why need a chair, when you could have my lap?" Genma flirted and gave Helexa a wicked smile before raising his cup to his lips. The group let out a chorus of 'oohs'.

Calling his bluff, Helexa easily slid on to his lap and removed the cup from his hand. She finished the drink, slammed it down on the table and wrapped an arm around Genma's shoulders as she made herself comfortable.

"Well, hot damn!" Genma said and laughed, not expecting to have his bluff called. The group busted out in a chorus of laughter once more.

"Kakashi, drink!" Helexa said, leaning over to him from Genma's lap, holding out a drink to him. A twinge of jealousy pulled at Kakashi. His face remained neutral, always the one to suppress his emotions.

"Oh, no thank you. I was on my way to get something to eat when I heard you all making a ruckus. I just wanted to see what all the commotion was about." Kakashi said as he held up a polite hand, a small smile pulling at his lips. His facade almost cracked though when Helexa pouted at him.

"All work and no play makes Kakashi a very dull boy." Helexa said, still pouting as she looked at the group. There was another chorus of drunken laughter.

"Bah, he won't take that mask off! He normally sits in a booth by himself and drinks when no one is looking!" Izumo said, knowing the Hokage's schedule all too well.

"Well. I wouldn't want him to take his mask off, that's for sure. Then I wouldn't be the prettiest thing at this table anymore." Helexa said, backing off, and taking the drink herself. She looked quite content in Genma's lap. Genma's hand resting on her lower back did not go unnoticed to Kakashi. He watched as Genma was talking to Izumo about something else entirely as Helexa poured herself another drink.

"Helexa, I hate to be the party pooper, but do you think so much sake is wise after your hospital stay?" Kakashi said quietly as he leaned closer to her. Bright blue eyes regarded him carefully as she mulled his words over. She nodded her head, a sober look on her face, as she stopped pouring.

"Oh, my! All this sake has gone to my head. Kakashi, will you walk me back to the Hokage Tower? Lord knows this group couldn't even walk a straight line right now." She said, her smile once more on her face. She grinned at the group and there was a chorus of boo's as they didn't want the good times to end.

"Oh, we can walk you back, Lexy. That's no problem. I'm sure the Hokage wants to get dinner first." Genma said as he turned to look from Izumo to Kakashi.

"Nonsense! Enjoy your drinks! We can pick something up along the way!" Helexa said, standing up from his lap and smiling at Genma. The man returned her smile and nodded his head.

"Alright! Good night Helexa! Good night, Lord Hokage!" Genma called, followed by a chorus of farewells from the group. The duo quickly exited the bar and were walking along the now lantern lit streets of Konoha.

"You seemed right at home with them back there." Kakashi observed. Trying not to make it sound more than it actually was.

"Oh, yes! They're a wonderful bunch! Genma and Izumo were also very wonderful. They showed me all around Konoha. Introduced me to many new people. Will they be my escorts again tomorrow?" Helexa said as she looked up to Kakashi.

"Mm. No, I think they have gate duty tomorrow." Kakashi lied. He didn't miss the look of disappointment on her face. "So, they call you Lexy now?"

"Ah, yes. What's funny is that my brothers called me that when I was younger. I don't know where they came up with it. I don't much care for it though." She said and chuckled as she shrugged her shoulders. "Let's go get you food!"

Kakashi didn't object as Helexa looped her arm through his and leaned against him.

"It's to keep my balance. I'm terribly drunk you know." She said, flashing him a beautiful smile.

"Hm." Was Kakashi's only response as he nodded his head and lead her towards a different shop. He would forego a drink tonight, he supposed.

"What's wrong, Kakashi?" Helexa questioned, easily picking up on his somber mood.

"Nothing. Just been along day for me is all. Are you hungry too?" Kakashi lied, quickly trying to chance the subject.

"Maybe a bit. Food would probably help soak up some of the alcohol. I am actually quite drunk." She chuckled and ducked in to the shop with Kakashi that he chose. Asking him to order for her since she wasn't fully acclimated to their cuisines yet, she went and sat down on a bench right inside the doorway. She leaned heavily against the wall and let out a content sigh. The alcohol was starting to settle in now that she wasn't still drinking. In fact, she was beginning to feel quite heavy. She was hoping for a good nights sleep tonight.

Helexa hadn't realized she had drifted off to sleep until Kakashi had gently shook her awake. He held up two bags of food in one hand and offered her his other hand to help her up. Accepting the hand, she stood up and tried to shake the fog out of her head. They quietly exited the shop together and made their back towards the Hokage Tower.

"Fuck. I hate how hot you get when drinking." Helexa muttered, her words a little slurred as she pulled the kimono's neck a little bit. She unclipped her hair and let it fall down, fluffing it a bit.

"How much did you drink? And whose idea was it to go drinking?" Kakashi asked, wondering who he should scold tomorrow.

"Well, no clue on how much I drank, buuuut It was my idea to drink. I needed a little bit of a release." Helexa admitted and shrugged as she grinned at Kakashi.

They made it back to the Hokage Tower fairly quickly and up to their rooms in no time. Kakashi stood in front of her suites, handed Helexa her food, and bid her good night. He had made it all the way to the door of his suites when he realized that she hadn't entered her rooms yet. He turned back to look at the raven haired woman, watching him curiously.

"Is something wrong?" Kakashi asked, slightly confused

"Would you like to eat together?" Helexa asked, her bright blue eyes focused on him. Whenever she looked at him like that Kakashi always felt something pull at him. He nodded his head and opened up the door to his suites. Kakashi motioned for her to come along and waited for her to go in first.

The two settled at the couches and placed their food on the coffee table before them. They worked in silence as they both set their food out in front of them. They were quiet for a while before Helexa elected to speak first,

"I thought you were going to come get me today? To try and get the memories?"

"We were but Lady Tsunade wanted them to wait since you've only been out of the hospital a day. She's worried that the stress would be too much on you."

"Is it scary?" She asked, her voice quiet.

"Perhaps to someone who might not be prepared." Kakashi admitted, sensing her fear.

"Will you be present when they do whatever it is that they're doing?"

"Do you want me to be?"

"Yes. Please."

"Hm."

"Can I ask a weird question?"

"What's that?" Kakashi asked, his interest piqued.

"You got a shirt and like shorts I could borrow? This kimono is killer. Plus, I don't have anything to sleep in." Helexa admitted with a toothy grin. Kakashi sat there for a moment, blinking, as he looked at Helexa. He suddenly laughed and stood up to make head to his rooms, motioning for her to follow. Once inside, Kakashi pulled open a few drawers and pulled out a few shirts and shorts for her to pick from. He quickly exited the room, allowing for her to change.

Helexa emerged from the room about 10 minutes later, clad in one of his shirts and what he was hoping was shorts. He couldn't really see them because the shirt fell so long on her.

"Never wear a kimono. They are a bitch to get out of." Helexa said as she padded back towards the food. She plopped back in to her spot and began to eat her food as if nothing had happened.

"Good to know. I'll be sure to stay away from them." Kakashi said, chuckling at the young woman's word. She was so odd but so intriguing to him. He did feel a wave of relief that he saw a pair of his shorts peeking out from beneath the shirt. Kakashi was mildly worried that she had gone sans bottom. He was also mildly hoping that she would go sans bottom. It was a double edged sword for him at this point.

"How are you feeling? Less drunk?" Kakashi inquired as he picked at his food.

"Mmm. Maybe a bit. I know I could go for some good sleep right now. Two of my favorite things when drunk is sleeping and fuuuu-..." Helexa said but quickly trailed off. Kakashi looked at her expectantly, his eye brows raised in curiosity as he awaited her answer.

"Fudge. I love fudge when I'm drunk. It's the best thing in the world." She quickly lied, blinking a few times.

"I like fudge too when I'm drunk." Kakashi said as he studied a particularly interesting piece of food on his plate. He picked it up with his chopsticks and studied it.

Helexa busted out laughing at his reply. Realizing that he caught exactly what she was saying despite her attempt to save. Kakashi joined in with her laughter and shook his head. This woman in front of him was something else.

"Anyways, why don't you take off that mask and eat?" Helexa prodded as she pointed at him with her chopsticks. She stopped though when she realized that he was chewing a piece of food. She could only assume it was the same piece of food he had just been inspecting.

"How the fuck did you do that?" She asked, completely dumbfounded.

"Mashgic." Kakashi said, with a mouth full of food. Helexa gave him a small pouty face before she took a bite of food, keeping an exaggerated pouty look on her face as she chewed.

The two talked as they ate their dinner, Helexa trying in vain to catch a glimpse of Kakashi's face. After a while it became a game to the two of them. She lost every time but it was still amusing to her. Kakashi found most of his pleasure from her laugh and smile. Once finished, Helexa flopped back on to the couch she was inhabiting and let out a loud yawn.

"Oh, I need to go to bed, but it's so far away. Kakashi, carry me to my room." She joked as she stretched out. Her long black mane of curls tumbled off the couch and hung over the side, almost sweeping the ground.

"Well if you insist." Kakashi said from his seat on the opposite couch but didn't move. His head was leaned back, resting on the back of the couch. He stayed like that for a while, his eyes closed.

He heard Helexa move from her spot on the couch. Her feet gently touching the ground, the soft hissing of her feet tiptoeing across the wood of the floor. He felt her drawn near until she was standing behind the couch, right by his head. Kakashi kept still, wondering what her next move would be. Her breathing was steady and quiet as she stood there for a moment or two. Her hands slowly, carefully, gently touched his face, right along the edge of his mask. She managed to grab the hem of it before Kakashi reacted. He suddenly grabbed her hands and his eyes popped open.

"Holy fuck!" She yelped and snatched her hands back. "I thought you were asleep!"

"Nope. Ninjas never sleep." He joked as he turned to look at her.

"One of these days I'm gonna get that mask off of you. One way or another." Helexa said as she narrowed her eyes at him playfully.

"Hm. Does it involve fudge?" He countered smoothly, quirking an eyebrow at her.

"It might." She replied, biting her lip with a smile. That look alone nearly dropped Kakashi. He was dumbfounded. Helexa winked at him as she walked back to his bedroom. Kakashi sat there for a moment or two, counting his heart beats as he wondered why she had walked into his rooms after giving him that look. Was he supposed to follow? Was it an invitation?

Moments later, she emerged from his room, her kimono gathered up in her arms.

"I'm heading off to bed now!" She said and walked to the door as if nothing had just transpired. He heard the door creak but kept his gaze straight ahead.

"Hey, Kakashi?" She called from the door way.

"Hm?" He turned to look to her.

"Good night." She said, winking at the man as she blew a small kiss. After she closed the door he could hear her chuckle as she walked off to her own rooms.

"Fuck. She's gonna kill me." Kakashi groaned as he dropped his head back on to the couch. He needed a shower. A long, very cold shower.


	10. Dangerous Nights

_"Danger."_

 _Shhhkt._

 _"Hex, baby. Wake up."_

 _Tkk, tkk, tkk._

 _"Run to Kakashi. NOW!"_

Helexa's eyes suddenly snapped open as she laid there in her bed. Taking a second to adjust, they slowly roved around her room, searching the darkness. The feeling that she was being watched made her skin crawl, her hair stand up on it. Helexa sat up in bed, rubbing at her aching head.

Rubbing her hands along her shoulders and arms, she tried to shake the feeling. Looking to her right, towards her closets, she stared hard in to the darkness. Slowly, two green orbs appeared in the darkness. Fear suddenly gripped her heart and her eyes watered with ears. Fight or flight took over and she elected for flight.

"KAKASHI!" Helexa screamed in to the night as she vaulted from her bed. She hit the ground running and tossed her bedroom doors open. Her heart pounded in her ears and time seemed to slow down as she cleared one of the couches with ease. If she had been in high school track again her coach would have praised her for that hurdle.

She didn't get more than three steps when she was halted dead in her tracks by someone jerking her back by her hair. Helexa let out a terrified scream as she was slammed to the ground on her back. A red, hot, burning pain seared down her arm as she felt a blade slide deep in to the skin of her forearm. Two green eyes stared down at her and than cut towards the door. Then in an instant they were gone.

The room was suddenly illuminated in light and in came rushing Kakashi in a pair of pajama pants, wielding a kunai. Right behind him we're three other ninjas that she commonly saw on his guard patrol. Scrambling from the floor where she laid, Helexa crawled to Kakash, meeting in the middle as he rushed to her.

"You're bleeding! What happened?" Kakashi asked, alarm clearly heard in his voice. He placed a hand over Helexa's wound to staunch the blood flow.

"The green eyed man! He was here!!" Helexa wept as she clung to Kakashi. She visibly shook with fear as she began to weep even harder. Kakashi turned to the team of ninja behind him and motioned for them to go. They disappeared within a second in search of the intruder.

Kakashi realized that Helexa would need medical attention because her bleeding was not slowing. He scooped the still weeping Helexa in to his arms and quickly took off in the direction of the hospital.

"We had to give her a low grade sedative but she ultimately had to have 12 stitches. Any deeper he would have nicked something major, Kakashi. She'll be fine but she's still pretty shaken. I'd assume she would fall asleep soon." Tsunade said as she stood outside of the hospital room that Helexa was in.

Kakashi nodded his head in understanding and thanked Tsunade before she left to attend to other things. Kakashi slid in to the room to find that Helexa was sitting on the edge of the bed, a little pale in the face.

"Lady Tsunade said you'll make a full recovery. After tonight I'm going to put a protection detail on you at all times..." Kakashi said as he sat on the bed beside Helexa. She nodded her head in response but said nothing. They sat in silence for a while.

"I understand if you don't want to go back to your own room. Is there... Is there somewhere else you might want to stay? I could have somewhere else fixed up for you." Kakashi said as he looked down to Helexa.

Those two, bright blue eyes turned and fixed on him. Fresh tears slowly welled up and threatened to spill over. The sadness and fear they held in them was like a shot to the chest for him. Kakashi knew the answer without her even having to say it. He nodded in agreement as he leaned towards her and wrapped an arm around the woman's shoulder. She leaned in to his side and quietly cried for a few minutes.

Once Helexa had calmed herself the two exited the hospital and rapidly made their way back to the Hokage Tower with Kakashi carrying Helexa. They made it back in no time. Once they made it to Kakashi's room, he carefully lowered Helexa to the floor. She stood there, still clad in his shirt and shorts, looking lost.

"I'll, uh, take the couch. You can have the bed." Kakashi said as he padded over to the bed to grab a pillow for himself.

"Kakashi... Would it... Would it be so forward to ask you to stay in here. With me." Helexa said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm scared. Really scared. I don't want to be alone."

Kakashi stood there for a moment or two. He watched Helexa as she stared at the floor, the look on his face was all he needed. "No. It's not so foward as to ask. I'll stay with you."

He folded back the blankets for her and motioned for her to get in to bed. Helexa quietly did so, sliding down in to the blankets and watching him as he walked over to the doors. He pulled them closed and then turned the lights off. The room was mostly shrouded in dark aside from the peek of moonlight that managed to get in around his curtains. He slid in to the bed too, making himself comfortable. There was plenty of space for the two of them in the king sized bed. At this moment in time, Kakashi almost wished for a smaller bed.

In that same moment, he chided himself for thinking such things. Here she was in his bed because she was so petrified that she couldn't even sleep alone. He turned to look to the woman beside him. Kakashi wasn't at all surprised to find Helexa already asleep. He was slightly alarmed to find fresh tears rolling down her face and her lips pulled down in a small frown. She was laying on her side, facing him, with her knees pulled up and her arms wrapped around her small frame. Kakashi so desperately wanted to pull her close to him. Anything to soothe her, to quell that fear inside her.

With a quiet groan, he looked back up to the ceiling and shut his eyes. Laying his arm across his face he forced himself to relax to quickly bring on sleep. In no time, he too, had drifted off to sleep.


	11. Morning Comes

Kakashi awoke very slowly the next morning, warm and content. He carefully opened his eyes, letting them adjust to the sunlight streaming in around his curtains. He laid on his left side with his left arm tucked underneath his head. His right arm, however, was wrapped around the slender hips of Helexa. She laid on her left side too so her back was facing him. She was pressed flush up against his front, her wounded arm held carefully to her chest, while her right arm rest atop Kakashi's. Her fingers were wrapped loosely around his wrist; as if, she was securing him there.

Kakashi closed his eyes for a moment longer, enjoying the feeling of her beside him. He dreaded the thought of pulling away from her, of leaving her laying here by herself. He knew that by the amount of light spilling into his room that if he stayed here too much longer than someone would eventually come searching for him. Not wanting Helexa's integrity to be questioned to be found in such a manner, he slowly slid out of bed. She didn't even stir once she was sleeping so hard. Kakashi quickly gathered some clothes and snuck off to the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day.

It wasn't too much longer after that did Helexa wake up, missing Kakashi's warmth. She rolled over slightly, looking around the room in the process. Hearing the shower running Helexa knew where Kakashi had gone. She slowly sat up, wincing at the pain in her arm. She had nearly forgotten about what had happened the night before but it quickly cane flooding back to her. As she looked at her arm she saw something strange on the sleeve of her shirt. A long black hair clung to it. Helexa wasn't sure how exactly it had managed to stay on her shirt so well after everything had transpired last night.

Scooting to the edge of the bed Helexa let her feet dangle over the side as she examined the hair carefully. This would be something that Kakashi would need. Perhaps he had like dogs that could track it or something. Or ninja with really good noses. A small smile pulled at the corner of her mouth but it quickly faded away. She felt no joy in the moment. Still feeling pretty rattled from the night before, Helexa wasn't surprised when she felt the sting of tears. Biting the inside of her cheek to keep them at bay, Helexa dragged her sleeve at her eyes to catch any loose tears. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Kakashi speak.

"Helexa, are you okay?" He asked as he strolled around the corner of the bed, fully clothed, and a towel around his shoulders as he finished drying the last bit of his hair. She said nothing as she looked at the man. Opening her mouth once or twice she just couldn't find the right words. Instead, she silently stood up and walked over to Kakashi. She held the hair out to him and waited for him to realize what she held.

The moment was not lost on Kakashi. He realized that the hair was a monumental find, that this could be the key to solving their problems. However, he tucked that thought away as he looked not at the hair but at Helexa. He saw the immense sadness and exhaustion in her eyes and he could tell that everything was weighing on her. He couldn't imagine what the constant traumas were doing to her.

Kakashi dropped the towel to the floor and carefully took the hair from her. He held it in his hand and made a quick sign over it. It poofed away in a cloud of smoke. He would deal with that later, he determined. Kakashi pulled Helexa to him, wrapping his arms tightly around her. At first, she was surprised by the hug but then she welcomed it. The exhausted woman clung to Kakashi tightly, gripping his shirt with such force that her knuckles turned white.

Slowly, her resolved faded away to nothing and the tears began again. She was mad that she was crying again and she was mad that she was being hunted. She was mad that she was constantly being attacked and she was just plain fucking mad. She was not mad, though, that Kakashi was holding her. In fact, it brought her such relief. Helexa buried her face in Kakashi's chest and she felt her knees start to buckle. Kakashi quickly caught the woman and sat with her on the bed. He held her for a while before the tears finally stopped.

He would have stayed there longer but a sudden, persistent, knocking started at the doors to his suite. He cursed lowly but didn't move from Helexa. Kakashi looked down to the woman and found those damned blue eyes looking up at him. Those eyes made him weak in the knees. Especially now when they practically glimmered from the tears. Tenderly, he stroked the hair back from her face and sighed.

"I'm sorry." He said, knowing all too well that he would have to leave her in her state to attend to other matters.

"I understand." She hiccuped and pulled away from the man. She nodded her head and sat back on the bed. Kakashi stood up, jammed his hands in to his pockets, and looked at Helexa for a moment or two.

"Get some more sleep. You need it. I'll send someone along later with some clothes. I know the Clan Leaders want another meeting. After you sleep for a bit, take a shower. It'll help." Kakashi said and offered a masked smile. Helexa returned a small smile and watched the man walk away. He opened the suite doors and found one of his assistants standing there. They tried to peek past Kakashi into his room but he held the door to where they couldn't. He quickly shut the door and walked off, ignoring his assistant completely. He walked off towards his offices to begin his day.

"Lord Hokage, please. The Clan Leaders want to be seen sooner than later. I don't think they will be happy to find out that you pushed the meeting off til this afternoon. Again." The woman said, her voice holding a small whine.

"Well when they become Hokage then they may chose when the meetings take place." Kakashi replied coolly, not once looking up from the paperwork before him. He was making it very well known that it was not up for a debate. The woman huffed but turned and exited his office. He turned and looked at the clock. It was now 2 PM. He had left his room around 10. He was hoping Helexa had gone back to sleep for a bit before today's meeting.

Kakashi was brought from his reverie as a three knocks sounded at his door. With a sigh, he sat back in his chair and called for them to enter. In entered three of his best research nin. The one standing in the middle held the small scroll in his hands. They all held solemn looks upon their faces.

"Lord Hokage, we have made some advancements on decoding the scroll. We think there might be a problem, however." One of them said.

Kakashi sighed again and dragged a hand through his silver locks. He felt a migraine coming on.

"Tell me."


End file.
